Last night Marija and I went out for some tasty Ethiopian food and then to see The Conformist, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, at the Silver. She spent a big chunk of the summer back home in Alberta and I hadn't seen her in nearly two months. She's got this crazy plan to go tornado chasing in Kansas with a classmate of hers, and she wants me to come with her. It all started when they saw some sort of presentation on storm-spotting. The thing is, they don't want to take one of the tours because they're too expensive. I told her, ahem, that price tag probably includes some liability insurance because tornadoes are, you know, dangerous. On one hand it sounds cool, but on the other... I have no patience for people who write books saying, "Poor, poor me! I went up on Everest, it got really cold, and then, I lost my foot! Bad mountain!" I kind of think storm-chasing without an experienced guide falls into the "asking for it" category.

The movie was good, but it didn't change my life. I got taken in by the "masterpiece" hype, but I've got to say it was a bit silly. Bottom line, it's an Italian movie: everything looks fantastic, there's at least one hysterical female crying "Marcello! Ma che...!", it's intelligent but not as deep as it thinks it is, and when a guy is murdered in the woods it has to be done with knives, in slow motion, for maximum effect, even though his pursuers have the guns to shoot the guy's wife immediately thereafter. Then again, I have to admit that Dominique Sanda is a force of nature. I think my dad has always secretly wanted to run away with her.

I'm reading How Proust Can Change Your Life. I highly recommend it. I tried to read In Search of Lost Time one winter break from college, I got maybe fifty pages in and quit. But this book actually makes me want to go back for another try.

I've got a kickass new bread recipe, for oatmeal sandwich bread. It actually came out too soft and puffy, the last thing I expected. It's a lot fluffier than Wonder Bread, and it tastes fifteen times better, with perfect little oatmeal flecks for extra chew. Toasted, with Marmite, it's the food of the freakin' gods. I'm going to try using some whole wheat flour for extra whole-grainy goodness and see if that makes it a little earthier.

You know it, bebbeh! I've been wanting to read it for a long time anyway, but LMS gave me a little extra push. I had a flirty little chat with the bookseller who helped me find the book to buy it. It seems Barnes and Noble is going wild on this book, ordering tons of copies for the demand they anticipate has been sparked by the movie. If people have to run out and buy a book because they saw it in a movie, I think they can do a lot worse than HPCCYL.

I wish you could post me some of your bread.

Oh, so do I! There are only so many baked good my coworkers and neighbors can absorb.